Flexibility in the routes of entry and modes of participation versus the attempts of shortening duration of studies: the Finnish case Educational Change in the Global Context – Prague 2010 Matti Lindberg Research Unit for the Sociology of Education, RUSE University of Turku

Background: themes in the Finnish HE policy discussions Concerns over the high average age of new graduates and the delay in the average start of HE graduates' careers are perhaps the most dominant issues for the Finnish HE policy makers Delay in the completion of university degrees has been seen as a problem since 1965, when the Finnish degree system was first compared to educational systems in the United Kingdom and United States, where master’s degrees were completed in four years

In the 1990s, both the OECD and the European Union continued to criticise Finnish universities for their lack of efficiency and the duration of studies among their students. Despite of the attempts of reducing the time spent enrolled in university, Finland is still among those OECD countries in which university studies take more than 8 years to complete On the average, the Finnish university students are 29 years when completing a master’s degree. Students at the AMK sector (=universities of applied sciences / polytechnic sector) are around 26 at the moment of graduation.

Transfers between first-degree level programs, such as changes of the field of study, are typical in the Finnish HE system, and they are considered a major cause for the characteristic delayed graduation and entry into labour markets for Finnish graduates Even if the changes of the field of study and other types of transfers potentially lead to a prolongation of study time, it is widely recognized that students should have a chance to adjust their choices during their educational career.

The REFLEX data “The Flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society, New Demands on Higher Education in Europe” The REFLEX project included fifteen countries TT he survey was conducted during 2005 and 2006 and consisted of year 2000 graduates from an ISECD5A level education Target group in Finland: university students with master’s and AMK students

Selected facts about the transfers amongst the Finnish HE students (based on the REFLEX data ) At a rate of 6.2 %, changes of field between first- degree programs are more common amongst Finnish university students than in most other European HE system (see Lindberg 2009) The Finnish students at the vocational HE sector (AMK sector) rarely change their field of study within the sector; however, approximately % of them do transfer to universities, and half of these students did also change their fields of study (Lindberg 2010) Although an AMK-to-university transfer appears to have positive effects on future employment, students who transferred from AMK to university do not achieve the same quality of employment as do the ‘original’ university graduates.

Summary and conclusions Transfers between fields of study within the university sector, especially the AMK-university transfer, are forms of career dynamics that are particularly unique to the Finnish HE system and the organization of the relations between HE and employment within the Finnish context. Paradox of the ongoing Finnish HE policy discussions: ”We probably have an excessive number of transfer within the university sector and something should be done to reduce the number of them. However, at the same time, it is considered important the students have a right to change the field of their study and that the AMK students can apply for university.”

The bachelor’s degree was introduced into the Finnish university sector in 2005 as a consequence of the effort to harmonize the European degree systems within the framework of the Bologna process: a very important topic for future studies in Finland will be that, what kind of an effect this will have for the duration of studies? “A challenge seems to be to find a middle ground between flexibility in the routes of entry and modes of participation, which are generally considered characteristics of the Finnish system worth keeping, and the ways the students are urged to complete their studies on time” (Merenluoto & Lindberg 2010) Future considerations

Literature Merenluoto, S. & Lindberg, M. E. (2010): The problems with prolonging studies and delaying the beginning of graduates’ working careers from national and international perspectives. In Ahola, S. & Hoffman, D. (eds.): The 3rd Yearbook of the Consortium of Higher Education Researchers in Finland (CHERIF), forthcoming. Lindberg, M. E. (2009): Student and early career mobility patterns among highly educated people in Germany, Finland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Higher Education, 58(3), 339–358. Lindberg, M. E. (2010) Effects of Changes of Program or Institution on the Quality of Education-Job Matches among Graduates in Finland and the United Kingdom